Reduced rents and higher margins have boosted profits for retail group Oriental Watch Holdings.

The company has issued a positive profit alert for the period saying its surplus for the six months to September 30 will be higher than for the same period last year, although it has yet to determined by how much.

In a short regulatory filing, chairman Yeung Ming Biu said the improved profit is the result of “sales of products with higher profit margin, as well as the decrease in rental payment during the period”.

But he cautioned the alert was promoted by management’s preliminary assessment after reviewing the unaudited consolidated management accounts which have not yet been finalised.

As at June, Oriental Watch Holdings had 62 retail stores, (46 on the mainland, 12 in Hong Kong, three in Taiwan and one in Macau).